Circulating-keir



No. 6|2,2|0. Patented Oct. II, 1898.

J. F. MONAGHAN.

(Application filed Nov; 30, 1896. Renewed Mar. 17, 1898.) (No Model.) 3Sh'eets-Sheet l.

. v M f lllllullIl llll m: noRms mus ca, PMoYmm'na, WASHINGTON ay 0 MN0. 6I2,2|0. Patented Oct. II, I898.

J. F. MONAGHAN.

BIRGULATING KEIR.

(Application filed Nov. 30, 1896. Renewed Mar. 17, 1898.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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N0. 6I2,2|0. Patented Oct. ll, I898.

' J. F. MONAGHAN.

CIBCULATING KEIR.

(Application filed Nbv. a0, 1896. Renewed Mar. 17, 1898..) (No Model.) 3Sheets-Sheet 3. 4

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NITED STATES PATENT FFICE,

JOHN F. MONAGI-IAN, OF LOXVELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

ClRCULATlNG-KE|R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 612,210, dated October11 1898. Application filed November 30,1896. Renewed March 17, 1898.Serial No. 674,261. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. MONAGHAN, of Lowell, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inKeirs, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

My invention relates toimprovements in bleaching-keirs, whereby constantand positive circulation of the bleaching solution is maintained throughthe mass of fabric stacked within the keir.

The cloth to be bleached is stacked in a pile in the keir in usualmanner, and thereafter the bleaching solution is discharged on the pile.

Keirs as now commonly made have a series of pipes connected outside fromnear the bottom to near the top, and these pipes are normallyunobstructed, so that when the bleaching solution is to be put incirculation to pass through the cloth steam under pressure is admittedto the interior of the keir, and it is expected that the steam will findits way into the pipes referred to and take with it the bleaching liquidand discharge it uniformly on the pile of cloth in the keir; but thisfrequently is not the case, for when the pressure within the keirbecomes considerable it almost invariably results that unless a pump orinjector is used the circulation will become sluggish and liable tocease altogether. The

' problem has long been how to get both circulation and proper pressuretogether in the same apparatus without the use of any special forcingapparatus, such as a pump or injector, the-difficulty being that whenproper pressure has been obtained the pressure stops the circulation ofthe solution. To overcome this difficulty and make the keir uniform andconstant in the discharge of the bleaching liquid on the pile of cloth,I have provided, in connection with the pipes referred to, a systemofvalves which must be opened to enable the steam-pressure to force thebleaching solution through them, and I have provided mechanical devicesto automatically open and close these valves one after another inregulauor in any predetermined or de sired order, so that the liquidwill be passed through said pipes and be discharged therefrom onto thepile constantly and will equally penetrate the entire mass and insureuniform bleaching. By my invention the solution is rections in asuccession of discharges, thus distributing the solution uniformly overthe pile, keeping it even and continuous.

My invention will be more fully comprehended in the course of thefollowing description and claims taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a front elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 isa central vertical section thereof, taken on line 2 2, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 isa top plan view thereof, parts being broken away to show the internalarrangement of the keir. Fig. 4 is a detail in end elevation of the cammechanism for operating the valves.

The keir A, provided with a cover B, secured in place by hand-nuts b,and having the pipe connections 0 O, blow-01f valve D, outlet E,heating-pipe F, and open grate G for the cloths to be stacked upon maybe and are such as are commonly employed for bleaching purposes.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, as herein shown, IIdesignates a steamchest supported on legs h centrally within the keir A,immediately below the grate G, and also furnishing a support for thelatter. The steam-chest H receives its steam from a suitable source ofsteam-supply through a pipe 72/ and is provided with a plurality ofoutlet-pipes 7L2, four being shown in the present instance, extendingradially to and preferably into the connections I. The connections aresecured to the keir below the grate G,so as to freely communicate withthe bleaching solution used. Return-pipes K extend from the connectionsI, respectively, and enter the upper part of the keir at K to providefor the circulation of the contained solution.

Valves L LL L are provided, one for each pipe K, these valves beingpreferably located in the connections I, adjacent to the free ends ofthe steam-pipes If, the latter delivering the bleaching, rinsing, orother solution through the connections I and circulationdischargedintermittingly from different dipipes K into the keir again at the topto flow by means of Weights m, suspended therefrom I over pulleys m.

Connected with the free end of each valvelever is an operating cord orcable, desig-; nated, respectively, as an 11 m and passing overdirection-pulleys n to the free ends of levers N, the latter beingsuitably pivoted,

as at N, over a shaft 1. The shaft'Pis provided with a drive-pulley Pand has a plurality of cams keyed or otherwise secured thereon and outof step with each other, one

for each lever N, and designated, r.espec-.

tively, as R R R R Figs. 1 and 4. Ido not restrict my invention to thisarrangement or operating means, nor to the detailed embodiment as abovedescribed, inasmuch as manychanges and modifications may be resorted towithin the spirit and scope of my invention.

The operation of the apparatus as above set forth is obvious. The clothsare inserted through the top opening of the keir and are stacked on thegrate G, as usual. The, de sired bleaching solutions, water, &c., areadmitted. The cover B is secured, and steam is let into the chamber H.The rotation of shaft P causes the cams thereon to raise and lower thelevers N in succession, thereby correspondingly opening the valves andpermit-. ting them to be closed by their weights m. As each valve opensthe steam from the adjacent pipe 72 is thereby given a forward impulseby the removal of the obstructing-valve, and the bleaching solution isthereby forced out through the valve opening and up through thecirculation pipe K, to be discharged at its end K to again flow throughthe cloths, the cam arrangement, as shown, permitting this discharge ofthe solution in a series of discharges or spurts, one after the other,following around the keir, ifdesired, in rotation. First, cam R liftsthe lever N, thereby pulling up cord at to draw out lever l and openvalve L. The continued rotation vofshaft P turns down cam R, permittingvalve L to close, and raises cam R, as shown, Figs. 1 and 4, therebypulling on cord at and lever Z to open valve L; and so on and valve L isclosed and valve L is opened, and the latter is closed and valve L isopened. Valve L is then closed and valve L is opened again, the valvesbeing successively opened .and closed in regular rotation, the orderthereof and the duration and speed of opening depending on thearrangement and shape of the cams and the speed of the drivingshaft.

The arrangement of the steam-chest and injector apparatus entirelywithin the keir and below the grate is not only compact and economical,but it serves to maintain the bleaching solution at the requiredtemperaturc.

The gist of my invention resides in providing in the severalcirculation-pipes an obstruction, (herein shown as a valve,) which maybe suddenly removed from in front of the confined liquor, therebyreleasing the pent-up fluid and giving it a forward impulse, which,being rapid, keeps a constant flow of the solution, as required. Evenwith my apparatus if all the pipes were left open the circulation wouldcease, (it being remembered that the solution is maintained within thekeir under pressure,) but by closing a pipe and then-suddenly opening itit kicks the liquor, as it were, by a kind of momentum on the release ofthe pressure or resistance of the valve in the pipe. My invention istherefore not restricted in any wise to providing the valves and valvemechanism for obtaining a predetermined order of successive impulses orspurts, but resides, broadly, in providing means for rendering the flowof the liquid through the pipes intermittent. The problem presented tobleachers has been how to obtain a continuous or practically continuousfiowofthe liquor under pressure, and I have discovered that this problemmay be solved simply by checking and releasing the flow of the liquorthrough the pipes. This, broadly stated, is my invention, and I intendherein to claim any and all means for accomplishing the same, inasmuchas it will readily be understood that my invention may be carried out bya great variety of mechanical expedients.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A keir, provided with a plurality of circulation-pipes, means forforcing the contained solution from the bottom of said keir through saidpipes, a controlling-valve for each pipe, and means to automaticallyoperate said valves in succession, substantially as described.

2. A keir, provided with a plurality of circulation-pipes, means forforcingthe contained solution from the bottom of said keir through saidpipes, a controlling-valve for each pipe, a shaft, a plurality of camsthereon, and connections between said cams and said valves, whereby thelatter are operated by said cams, substantially as described.

3. A keir, provided with a plurality of circulation-pipes, acontrolling-valve for each pipe, and mechanism to automatically operatesaid several valves in succession in predetermined order of rotation,substantially as described.

4. A keir provided with a plurality of circulation-pipes, means forforcing the contained solution from the bottom of said keir into the topthereof through said pipes, and means for rendering the flow of theliquid through said pipes intermittent, substantially pipes into thekeir may be varied in one and as described. another of the pipes asdesired, substantially 5. A keir provided with a plurality of cirasdescribed. culation-pipes, a controlling-valve for each In testimonywhereof I have signed my I 5 pipe, and automatic mechanism foroperatname to this specification in the presence of ing said severalvalves, substantially as detwo subscribing witnesses. scribed. 7, T

6. A keir provided With a plurality of cir- JOHN MONAGHALculation-pipes, a controlling-valve for each pipe, and mechanism foroperating said several valves, whereby the discharge from saidlVitnesses:

GEO. M. HARRIGAN, JOHN H. RIORDAN.

